Leno weave elastic fabric



May 11, 1954 C, TEAGUE 2,677,872

LENO WEAVE ELASTIC FABRIC Filed Nov. 20, 1951 ATTORNEY Patented May 11, 1954 UNITED .E ATENT OFFICE United States Rubber N. Y., a corporation of Company, New York,

New Jersey Application November 20, 1951, Serial No. 257,224

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a leno weave fabric having a rubber coating so applied thereto as to form an elastic fabric having a large amount of stretch in the weft direction.

Rubber backed elastic fabrics have been extensively used heretofore, as knitted and woven rubber backed fabrics, but such rubber backed fabrics have only a short elastic stretch, unless special means are employed to condense the fabric to a pronounced degree before the rubber backin is applied thereto.

The present invention contemplates a rubber backed elastic fabric which is easy and inexpensive to produce and which may have anywhere from 20% to over 100% stretch in the weft direction, as desired.

In carrying out the present invention a conventional leno weave fabric is taken off-the-loom and s "etched longitudinally to thereby condense the fabric transversely. While the fabric is so stretched a coating of rubber is applied thereto which yieldingly holds the fabric in its transversely condensed condition. These simple operations can be performed on conventional textile machinery widely used in the textile industry.

The fabric used in carrying out the present invention can be woven in any of the leno plan weaves and can be provided with any desired design. Its width-wise stretch and the number of ends per inch can be varied over a wide range depending upon the construction desired in the base fabric and the tension to be applied in the processing period. The number of picks per inch can be varied as desired.

For a better understanding of the characteristics and advantages of the fabric of this invention, reference should be had to the following description and the accompanying drawing where- 1112 Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic face View of a representative leno weave fabric as it comes off-theloom;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic face view of the fabric of Fig. 1 after tension is applied longitudinally to condense the fabric transversely and a rubber coating is applied thereto;

3 is an enlarged face view of a portion of the fabric of Fig. 1 showing the disposition of the warp and weft threads in the leno Weave;

4 is a sectional view taken on the line l-4 of Fig. 1 showing the disposition of the threads of the fabric ofi-the-loom; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 showing the disposition of the threads and rubber coating of the condensed fabric.

Referring to the drawing and Figs. 1, 2 and 3 in particular there is shown an open gauze plan leno weave fabric 49 having weft threads H and warp threads I2. Each warp thread It consists of the two yarns a and a woven in the manner shown in Fig. so that a always passes under the weft threads i l and over the warp yarn a. Conversely the warp yarn (1 always passes over the Weft threads H and under the warp yarn a. This is characteristic of a leno weave wherein one of the yarns crosses over another periodically between the weft threads. When tension is applied lengthwise of the fabric of Fig. 1, it will elongate somewhat as shown in Fig. 2 as the warp threads 52 are straightened out by the tension. As the warp threads 52 straighten out the loops of the warp yarns a and a tend to disappear and the yarns tends to assume a parallel position.

The effect on the weft threads I I of tensioning the warp yarns a and a is best shown by a comparison of Figs. 4 and 5. As shown in Fig. 4, the warp yarns a and a embrace the weft threads I I which at this time have a slight serpentine configuration. When tension is applied to the warp yarns they shift their positions and distort the weft threads I i so that these weft threads take a figure S configuration and the fabric is narrowed in width as will be seen by comparin the dimensions of the fabric of Fig. l with that of Fig. 2. While the fabric is so tensioned rubber coating I3 is applied thereto as shown in Fig. 5 and the fabric is yieldingly held in its condensed condition. Thus when tension is applied transversely of the condensed fabric the rubber coating l3 stretches and the weft threads l elongate straight out to the position in which they are shown 1n Fig. 4. When this tension is removed the rubber coating 13 again contracts the fabric to its narrow condition. Although the fabric is shown in Fig. 5 as having been tensioned longitudinally to the extent that the warp yarns a and a are substantially parallel, it will be appreciated that the fabric need not be tensioned to threads of the fabric under longitudinal tension which is peculiar to a leno weave. This charof the fabric. The fabric illustrated in the draw-- ing has a 100% widthwise stretch, i. e. the fabric off-the-loom is condensed to one-half its original width before the rubber coatin is applied.

There are many ways in which the open leno weave fabric may be tensioned longitudinally and condensed transversely. This fabric can be produced commercially by providing a roll of leno fabric having the desired weave and advancing such fabric to two" successive sets of rolls that are power driven so as to operate the second set at a faster speed than the first set. The fabric is thereby stretched longitudinally between the sets of rolls. This elongated fabric may then be advanced to calender rolls that apply a coating of unvulcanized rubber to one face of the transversely condensed fabric. The coated fabrici should then be heated to vulcanize the rubber coating.

The fabric of the present invention may also be given a two-way stretch. Thus it could be stretched longitudinally as described above, moistened slightly so it will adhere to a supporting surface and then laid on a longitudinally stretched rubber belt. This belt would be per mitted to contract longitudinally and thereby condense the fabric lengthwise. The fabric may then have a coating of rubber sprayed thereon, after which it is heated to vulcanize the rubber and produce a two-way stretch fabric.

The fabric of this invention is useful in applications wherever a widthwise elastic fabric is desired; it is especially useful as an upholstery fabric for automobile seats, for the Woven construction permits the use of a stripe design frequently desirable in such upholstery. Furthermore this woven elastic fabric is very easy to produce since all that is necessary is to weave a leno fabric, stretch it longitudinally and then apply a rubber backing.

The fabric of this invention may be made in a variety of designs, and having a variety of elasticities, which are dependent only on the weave and tension used in the manufacture. Accordingly, I do not wish to be limited by the foregoing described embodiment, for many changes and alterations thereof within the spirit and scope of this invention will occur to those skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. A woven fabric having transverse elasticity, comprising interwoven weft and plural warp threads, said plural warp threads consisting of individual warp yarns one of which crosses the other at intervals between the weft threads, said fabric having been tensioned warp-wise whereby the individual warp threads are substantially straightened and the fabric is condensed transversely, and a rubber coating applied to said fabric whereby the fabric is yieldingly held in the condensed condition.

2. A fabric having transverse elasticity, comprising an open leno Weave fabric elongated warpwise whereby the fabric is condensed transversely, and a stretchable coating applied to said fabric holding it in the condensed condition.

3. A stretchable upholstery fabric comprising an open leno weave fabric having the warp threads tensioned whereby the weft threads are distorted and the fabric is condensed transversely, and an elastic coating applied to said fabric holding it in the condensed condition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

